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222 The Turquoise.
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It
is doubtful whether the true Turquoise was known to the Ancients; but
in the Middle Ages it was well known and highly valued, and few stones
had such wonderful gifts and virtues attributed to them as this had.
Yet to realise these advantages it was a necessary condition that the
stone should have been received as a gift. Even to this day, in Russia,
there is a proverb, "That a Turquoise given by a loving hand carries
with it happiness and good fortune ;" and another, " That the colour of
a Turquoise pales when the well-being of the giver is in danger."
The
Shah of Persia has long been credited with the possession of the finest
Turquoises in existence, for Nis-hapur, in Khorassan, the locality from
whence the most precious of these stones is obtained, is within his
dominions ; and it was said that the best Turquoise was invariably
picked out and retained by him, whilst the poorer specimens only were
permitted to go into the market
The
Orientals cut texts from the Koran on Turquoise and fill in the
characters with gold. There are some very good specimens of engraved
mineral Turquoise, Nicols speaks of one possessed by the Duke of
Etruria, which was the size of a hazel-nut, and had the image of Julius
Caesar engraved on it. There are two in the collection of the Duke of
Orleans, on one of which is engraved an image of Diana, and on the
other that of the Empress Faustina. A jeweller in Moscow at one time
possessed a Turquoise two inches long, cut in the shape of a heart, and
said to have belonged previously to Shah Nadir, who wore it as an
amulet. A verse from the Koran is inscribed upon it in gold, and .£780
was the price asked for it.
Discoveries
in the land of Midian have shewn that three Turquoise mines exist there
; the northernmost, at Aynuneh already worked, the southernmost, near
Ziba
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